


Sing Me A Song--You're the Piano Man

by Amateum, libertarian_firelord



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 'Cause why not?, (Adrien is kinda smart tho), Basically everyone sings Billy Joel songs, F/M, Fluff, Music, One Shot, Reveal, Rock 'n' roll, clueless dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-08-29 07:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8479969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amateum/pseuds/Amateum, https://archiveofourown.org/users/libertarian_firelord/pseuds/libertarian_firelord
Summary: In which the clueless dorks sing Billy Joel songs and accidentally figure it out.  Kinda?BONUS: Now with added chapter!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a head canon that I have in which Adrien, as a piano player, is secretly a huge fan of Billy Joel (one of the surprising few rock stars whose primary instrument is the piano), though Gabriel doesn’t approve of such “pedestrian” music. I also think Marinette would be a fan of Joel. I mean, in canon they are both fans of Jagged Stone—who is hardly your standard teen pop fair. So it follows that they would listen to the likes of Billy Joel (and maybe Elton John, too). And though this is a Ladrien fic, I think that Joel’s “You May Be Right” is the perfect Marichat theme song. 
> 
> Also, I am well aware that in canon, there isn’t a grand piano in Adrien’s room. But in my defense, that room is large enough that a grand piano wouldn’t be amiss. Not to mention this story wouldn’t work without it. So there.

The piano bench creaked slightly as Adrien sat down. He had _finally_ finished his literature essay—which had been hanging over his head for several weeks, and so decided to relax for the rest of the evening with his piano.

“So what you gonna play for me, piano man?” asked Plagg, as he floated down to rest atop the piano.

Adrien looked at his kwami. “I don’t know yet, let me at least get warmed up first.”

He flexed his fingers as he surveyed the eighty-eight keys before him. After a moment’s pause, ( _heh, paw-se_ , he thought) he set his fingers on the keys, and began to play. Nothing fancy, simply holding bass chords with his left hand, and complementing them by playing arpeggios up and down the higher notes with his right—one of the oldest warm-up exercises he could remember.

As he played the patterns his hands had memorized years ago, his thoughts began to wander, and he gazed out the open window as the last rays of the Parisian sunset ran away over the western horizon. A cool breeze blew in. He began to speed up the tempo. The notes flowed out of the piano, swirling in the breeze like leaves in a park.

Eventually, he stopped. _Now, what to play?_ He asked himself. _Mozart? No, too cliché. Michael Abels? No, too pretentious. Debussy? No, he was a jerk..._ Suddenly, he froze, as a thought occurred to him.

“Plagg, what did you call me earlier?”

“Huh?”

“When you asked what I was going to play, what did you say?”

“I said, what you gonna play, piano man?”

His eyes lit up. “That’s perfect!”

He jumped up from the bench, startling Plagg, and bolted for the door.

“What? I mean—you’re welcome…?” but his Chosen was already gone. Plagg shook his head, and mused, “This is the boy second in charge of protecting all of Paris.” He thought for a moment about some of his past Chosen. “Though, I’ve worked with worse.”

At that moment, Adrien burst back into the room. Plagg rolled over and looked at him. “So what’s up, kid? Now are you gonna play me a song?”

“I am,” Adrien smirked at Plagg. “You called me ‘Piano Man.’ That reminded me! Father isn’t home…” As Adrien sat down, his smirk became a full-on grin of teenage rebellion, as Plagg realized what he was saying.

“Which means I can play some rock’n’roll!”

“No, no, no, wai _taminute!_ ”

But it was too late, as he began playing a lilting lick up high on the piano, then added in a chord down low.

 _Oh no_ , thought Plagg, recognizing the song. His thoughts flashed back to screaming Russian crowds getting their first live taste of American rock. _Moscow, 1987. Man, after that show, Anatoly and I got soooo shitfaced…I couldn’t think straight for a week. I haven’t drunk with my Chosen since. Please tell me he’ll stop soo—_

“Friday night I crashed your party…Sa-tur-day I said I’m sorry…Sunday came, and trashed me out agaaaaiiiin!”

 _Aaaand now he’s singing. Great. To be fair, his voice isn’t that bad. He’s got the feel of it, anyway._ The grin on Adrien’s face in between verses and choruses was priceless. _Well, at least he’s enjoying it. Shame his dad disapproves of this. Kid could be a rockstar one day…_ Adrien kept rocking through the song.

“You may be right!” His right hand jumped up to the higher end of the keyboard, “I may be crazy.” He riffed away off the minor seventh, “but it just may be a luuuuunatic, you’re looking fo-o-or!” After two beats, he let loose a high-to-low key slide, then practically yelled, “It’s too late to fight…it’s too late to change me…you may be wrong, for all I know, but you may be right!”

 _Finally_ , thought Plagg, _he’s getting near the end_ …

“You may be wrong but you may be ri-ight! You may be wrong but you may be ri-ight—C’mon Plagg, sing with me!”

 _You’ve got to be joking. What about my pride, my dignity? What if the other kwamis found out I was singing Billy Joel songs with a French teen about 20 years too late? What about-_ Adrien’s doe eyes interrupted any further ranting.

“Dangit, Adrien. You _know_ I can’t resist the doe eyes!”

“Paw- _leeaase,_ Plagg?” He gave a cheesy grin.

Plagg huffed. _Maybe this is why his dad disapproves this sort of thing._

“…ah screw it _,_ " _you win this time, Agreste_ … and Plagg began to sing a song he had avoided since his Muscovite Chosen had gone to that concert all those years ago.

“You may be wrong but you may be ri-ight! You may be wrong but you may be ri-ight! You may be wrong but you may be ri-ight!” they sang in unison. Finally, Adrien quit singing, and with an entirely unnecessary flourish, hit the final chord of the song. He looked at the black kwami sitting on top of his piano.

“That was great! Though, I’d have never pegged you for a Billy Joel fan.”

“Well, I’m not really-” Plagg began to reply, but Adrien cut him off, slamming down another low chord with his left hand, and began to play a series of fast ascending fifths with his right. Plagg sighed resignedly as Adrien grinned at him, and began to sing again.

“Come out, Virginia, don’t make me wait—you Catholic girls start much too late…”

 _Aaand he’s off again. Seriously, what is it with this kid and Billy Joel? Knowing my luck, he’ll be covering Elton John tunes next…_ Plagg began to relax on the piano, despite its vibrations under Adrien’s pounding. _This’ll take a while._

Suddenly, he saw a flash of red outside the window, and on instinct, zipped into the piano, dodging hammers and strings as he went. Eyes screwed shut in concentration and singing his heart out, Adrien was oblivious to the sight and sound of a red suited superhero landing nimbly a few feet away. Plagg chanced a peek out of the piano, and saw Ladybug just inside the window, grinning at Adrien’s Billy Joel impression. However, the moment was lost as Adrien entered the second bridge and finally opened his eyes.

“Weeell your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputaaaAAAAAHHH!” The piano came to a jarring stop as Adrien jumped up, face beet-red, upsetting the piano bench in the process. It teetered for a second on two legs, then promptly shattered the sudden silence with a hard crash against the marble floor.

“So, _Only the Good Die Young_ , huh?” Asked Ladybug, smirking.

“Y-yeah,” Adrien stammered. “How much of that did you see, anyway?”

“Enough,” Ladybug giggled. “I was swinging along, and happened to hear my favorite Billy Joel song, so I thought I should investigate.”

“Yeah, well,” Adrien floundered, rubbing the back of his neck, “Sometimes I play rock music, when father isn’t home…he doesn’t really approve of that sort of music.”

“Well I thought it was good. Missing a little something, but then again, I suppose you can’t really get the ‘full band’ effect with just a piano.”

“No, no, I—guess not,” Adrien floundered as he tried (and failed) to right the piano bench without looking away from the superhero in the windowsill. Finally giving up and looking down to get a proper grip on the bench, he asked, “So, you say you’re a Billy Joel fan, huh?”

“Yeah, my dad used to play his music when I was younger, and we would dance for hours!” She chuckled at the memory. _Huh_ , Adrien thought, _this is one of the most personal things I’ve ever heard her admit—to me_ or _to Chat Noir_.

“Well alright then, _Piano Man_ , what else are you gonna play for me?”

“I—uh, what?”

Ladybug stepped right up to Adrien, held his gaze with a challenging smirk, and said in a slightly sultry tone, “You heard me. What else are you gonna play for me?”

Adrien’s mind went blank. _Ladybug is within a foot of me, and…flirting?_ But then, something snapped within him.

“Alright,” he replied, drawing upon his inner reserve of Chat-confidence. “If it’s a song you want, it’s a song you’ll get.” Without even thinking, he started playing a walking bass line with his left hand, and added a bluesy lick with his right hand. Then he began to sing.

“Black and orange stray cat, sittin’ on a fence…Ain’t got enough dough to pay the rent…” Plagg silently face palmed, still hiding in the piano. _Of all the songs from all the singers in all the world, he chooses Stray Cat Strut. He might as well have introduced himself as Chat Noir right then and there. This boy’s going to be the death of me._

 _“_ …but I got cat class and I got cat style! _”_ Adrien finished the song with a flourish of keys, showing off just a little for his Lady, then looked over.

Her eyebrows had slowly risen with each measure, every cat reference furthering her brow’s ascent into her hairline.

“Who are you, Chat Noir?” she grinned.

Adrien froze for a second then chuckled nervously after he realized she was teasing. “Haha, yeah…”

He rubbed the back of his neck. _Plagg was going to kill him..._

 

\---

 

Adrien was over the moon. Who cares that had stayed up half the night and was now falling asleep on his drive over to school? He had stayed up half the night with _Ladybug_.

He’d had to restrain himself from humming Billy Joel during breakfast, because of _course_ today was the one time his father had time to eat breakfast with Adrien. Instead, he answered his father’s standard round of questioning:

“Yes, school is going well.”

“Yes, my fencing is improving every day.”

“Yes, Mandarin is fine. I recently learned the phrase for ‘selling tofu.’”

But now he was at school and while it still wasn’t appropriate to burst into song, he could hum to his heart’s content. He stepped into class singing “Anthony works in the grocery store, saving his pennies for someday…” under his breath.

“Aw, not you, too!” said Nino as Adrien plopped into his seat.

“Me too what?”

“Marinette has been singing Billy Joel all freaking morning!”

“She has?” He turned around to look at Marinette who was now blushing profusely.

“I-I mean I-uh. Yeah, I was.” She stared very intensely at a spot on her desk.

“That’s great, I love Billy Joel! What’s your favorite song of his’?”

“ _O-Only the-the Good Die Young_ ,” she said, still staring at her desk. Forcing herself to look up at Adrien, she replied “Wha-what’s yours?”

“It’s a tough call for me. Really, any song from _Glass Houses_ is good with me,” replied Adrien.

“Oh get with the times, guys!” exclaimed Alya. “Who listens to Billy Joel anymore, anyway?”

“Yeah, all those synthesizers _totally_ date his music!” added Nino.

“Says the guy who thinks a-Ha is the greatest band ever,” chuckled Adrien.

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. The sheer musical brilliance that is _Take On Me_ will defend the band just fine,” argued Nino haughtily.

Marinette brushed Nino’s comment away with a wave, saying, “Whatever, Nino. And to answer your question, Alya, plenty of people still listen to Billy Joel! Just last night, I was up with a friend till waaay too late listening to his music!”

Adrien perked up in interest. It seemed he and Ladybug weren’t the only ones singing their lungs out last night. At Alya’s questioning look, Marinette continued.

“I was over at his house, and we got to talking about music because he was playing Billy Joel songs on his pian—.” She suddenly stopped herself, looking over at Adrien. “Stereo system. Yes. Stereo.” Adrien’s brow quirked at her slip-up. “We listened to song after song,” she said, regaining her momentum, “and sang along to all of them!”

Adrien slowly looked down at the floor, tuning out the rest of the debate. _Wait. Marinette says she was up all night listening to her friend playing Billy Joel tunes._ I _was up all night playing Billy Joel tunes for Ladybug. Would that mean-? No. Impossible._ Adrien must have looked rattled since Nino suddenly paused mid-sentence and asked if he was all right. Thankfully, before he could bungle an answer, the teacher entered the classroom.

But as class commenced, only one thought revolved in Adrien’s head. _Could Marinette be Ladybug? Could Ladybug be Marinette? She apparently was up till all hours listening to her friend play Billy Joel tunes on his “stereo.” But…c’mon. Marinette? Ladybug? It can’t be._ He continued to agonize over the possibility. _I mean, Marinette_ does _have some rather Ladybug-esque qualities—she’s brave, compassionate, headstrong._ Adrien chanced a quick, curious look back at Marinette. _Heck, they even have the same eyes and hairstyle._ Suddenly, another realization hit him. _Wait. When Ladybug came by, she said she heard me playing her favorite song. I was playing “Only the Good Die Young,” which is what Marinette just said was her favorite! Holy FU—_ Nino’s elbow in his gut snapped Adrien back to the present.

“ _Dude_ ,” Nino whispered. “ _Pay attention!”_

He looked up to see Mme. Mendeleev staring reproachfully at him.

“Huh—ah—sorry. What was the question?”

She narrowed her eyes and responded flatly, “I _asked_ you, Monsieur Agreste, to state the Third Law of Thermodynamics.”

Adrien responded automatically. “The entropy of a system approaches a constant value as its temperature approaches Absolute Zero.”

“Which is?” asked Mme. Mendeleev, trying to catch him off-guard.

“-273.15 degrees Celsius, or 0 Kelvin.”

“Yeees…” Mme. Mendeleev gave him one more suspicious glance, and then turned back to the board to continue with the lesson.

Adrien spent the rest of the class on autopilot, only able to think that the quiet, kind, raven-haired girl behind him was also Ladybug. His Lady. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Same eyes, same build, same courage, same heart. Adrien almost laughed out loud at his own cluelessness. It had to be. _So My Lady is also my wonderful classmate. Hah—Take_ that _, perpetual bad luck!_

Later that day, after the bell had rung, Nino, Alya, Marinette, and Adrien stood on the sidewalk outside their school, planning their weekend.

“Hey man,” piped up Nino, “we’re all going over to Marinette’s to hang out. You in?”

“Ah, sorry guys. I can’t. I have a shoot this afternoon. Next time, it’ll happen.” At that moment, Adrien saw his car coming up the street, and an insane idea hit him, clearly coming from the Chat part of his brain. Before he could lose the nerve, he turned to Marinette.

“Oh, Marinette? I forgot to mention this one Billy Joel song I like. It’s about wearing masks and hiding who you are.” Marinette’s eyes widened. “It’s called _The Stranger_. Maybe you could relate to it?” He flashed a knowing smile. “Anyway,” he continued, before Marinette could stutter out an answer, “my ride’s here. See you later.”

Marinette was still staring at him when he waved innocently as The Gorilla pulled the car away from the curb and into the afternoon Parisian traffic.

 

\---

 

It was nearing midnight. Adrien had school tomorrow, and he knew it, but Gabriel was out at some function that promised to keep him until the wee hours of the morning. It was also Ladybug’s night to patrol, so Adrien couldn’t resist the temptation. He threw open the window, and sat down at the piano. As he warmed up, Plagg settled down near the edge, so that he could quickly dive into the instrument again if need be.

The duo didn’t have long to wait. Within a few minutes of finishing his warm ups, and just as he finished a quick rendition of _Rocket Man_ , Adrien saw Plagg zip into the piano once more, indicating the arrival of a certain spotted heroine.

“So, you like Elton John too, huh?” asked Ladybug, as she hopped lightly down from Adrien’s open window.

“Yeah, he’s good. Gotta love the piano rockers, y’know? But something tells me you’re not here to hear _Rocket Man_.”

“…I have a request, actually.”

“Let me guess: _The Stranger_?”

“How did you know?” she said cautiously.

“I mentioned it to you on Friday; I figured you’d want to hear it.”

“Wha-what? We- we didn’t-”

“Marinette, I know it’s you.”

“N-no! I’m not Marinette, who is this Marinette, she sounds nice, not that I’m tooting my own horn by complimenting myself, because I’m not her, but even if I were, I wouldn’t be trying to-Tikki!” her stream of babble was interrupted when Tikki decided to cut Marinette’s losses and de-transform.

“Marinette, he knows.”

“But what about safety? He could get hurt! What if someone uses him against me, or-”

Tikki laid a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Marinette,” she said

Marinette slumped her shoulders in defeat. She breathed out. “Fine. But I don’t approve.”

Tikki rolled her eyes, turned to Adrien, and flew over to him. “Hi, I’m Tikki, Ladybug’s kwami. Nice to meet you.”

Adrien smiled. “Nice to meet you, Tikki.” He lowered his voice “There’s someone else I’d like you to meet.” At Tikki’s questioning look, he nodded his head toward the inside of a piano where two green eyes peeking over the ridge were just visible.

She turned back to Adrien, a wide “O” of surprise on her face that soon transitioned into an even bigger smile than before. “I knew you two were perfect for each other,” she said before zipping off to a waiting Plagg.

Adrien shook his head at the little kwami before looking back to where Ladyb- _No, Marinette_ stood, staring at her shoes. She seemed to have completely missed his exchange with Tikki, so absorbed with her own self-doubt as she was. Now that the mask was off, she seemed to curl inward, as if all the poise and confidence gained as Ladybug were stripped away, leaving only shy, awkward Marinette in her place.

 _Well, we can’t have that_ , thought Adrien. He cleared his throat, Marinette flinching at the sound.

“I should warn you, I don’t play it exactly the way it is on the album.”

“W-what?” She looked at him, confused at the abrupt change in topic.

“The Stranger. Like you said, I can’t get the full effect of a band with just a piano, but I’ve made my own arrangement.”

Before Marinette could reply, Adrien began playing a subdued, wandering melody. Soon, he was whistling along with it. Closing his eyes as his fingers ghosted over the keys of the piano, he stopped whistling and, much to the detriment of Marinette’s mental state, began to sing in a quiet, clear voice:

“Well we all have a face, that we hide away forever, and we take them out and show ourselves, when everyone has gone…”

Adrien’s voice and the notes from the piano combined and wrapped around Marinette like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s day.

“Well, we all fall in love, but we disregard the danger, though we share so many secrets, there are some we never tell.”

The clarity and emotion of Adrien’s voice sent shivers up and down Marinette’s spine.

“Why were you so surprised, that you never saw the stranger, did you ever let your lover see, the stranger in yourself?”

She was so spellbound by her longtime crush singing and playing so beautifully _for her_ , she didn’t even notice Tikki and Plagg whispering in hushed tones as they flew out from the piano. All she heard and saw was Adrien.

“Though you drown in good intentions, you will never quench the fire, you'll give in to your desire, when the stranger comes along.”

Finishing the words of the song, Adrien began to whistle for a short time, and finally, he let the final notes of the song ring out softly, but clearly. He finally opened his eyes again and gave Marinette a small smile.

“Hey, Mari, care to dance?” Marinette’s heart leapt into her throat, as Adrien walked over to his computer. “I have some fairly decent speakers, and don’t often have occasion to use them. So like I said, care to dance?” Noting Marinette’s hesitance, he quickly added, “Don’t worry, it won’t be anything slow. I need a change of pace.” After a few short keystrokes, Marinette heard the opening chords of _Crocodile Rock_ blare from Adrien’s speakers. He turned and walked back towards the girl standing in the middle of the room, holding his hand out to her.

On his face was a sly grin, and in his green eyes was a roguish glint. Both looked oddly familiar to Marinette. Had her obscenely handsome and talented supermodel crush not been _holding his hand out to her to dance_ , she might have had the presence of mind to think through what she was seeing. But preoccupied as she was, all she could do was take his hand.

Stepping in time with the music, Adrien led them to the clear center of the room, and spun Marinette gently. At that point, the music took over them both, and they went off around together, dancing like mad. Neither followed any particular steps, they just let the beat carry them towards each other, and then away—a hairsbreadth between them one moment, and an impassible crevasse the next. Adrien’s ecstatic grin threatened to split his beautiful face in two, and soon Marinette found herself giggling too. This giggle turned into a full-blown laugh as Adrien sang along with the “Lalala’s” in the most hilariously terrible falsetto she’d ever heard. At this point, all her inhibitions were gone, and the pair continued to dance like wild.

Finally, right as the song began to fade from the speakers, Adrien brought Marinette in close, spun the two of them around briefly, and finally ended by lowering Marinette into a graceful dip. As the last remnants of the song trailed out of the speakers, Marinette blushed profusely at the proximity between their faces. Both were panting slightly. Again, Marinette noticed how familiar Adrien’s eyes were—but it was hard for her _not_ to notice this, given that she was gazing into them from far closer than she ever thought possible. She’d figure it out later when she wasn’t _being held in the arms of the very boy she’d been pining after for months and months_. Slowly, and far too soon for Marinette’s liking, Adrien brought them both back upright, stepped back, and bowed deeply. “It was an honor and pleasure, My Lady,” he said, then flashed his best Chat grin back up at her.

Marinette began to jokingly curtsy back, then suddenly froze, as she realized the reason his eyes and grin were familiar.

“ _CHAT?!”_

 _Oh crap_ , Adrien thought. _I forgot to tell her, didn’t I?_

 

_Fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shout out to Amateum, for essentially writing about half this fic (this is why I actually credited her as co-author instead of just editor). She is creative when I am not (which is more often than I'd like to admit), and as ever, without her invaluable input, this wouldn't have gotten anywhere.
> 
> Also, playing off of Hawkdaddy's idea of Ladybugs/Chat Noirs throughout history, I threw a reference to one of Plagg's past Chosen, whom I headcanon as a citizen of Soviet Russia. I figure, of all the post-1945 World, if there was one place that needed LB and CN, it would be the Soviet Union.
> 
> Here are all the songs mentioned in this fic (in order of appearance, no less):
> 
> “You May be Right” – Billy Joel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCtC-LoOvqs
> 
> “Only the Good Die Young” – Billy Joel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhjNm20XbXw
> 
> “Stray Cat Strut” – The Stray Cats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNQazP-wdj4
> 
> “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” – Billy Joel (What Adrien sings quietly as he walks into class): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8buJ2-oD02E
> 
> “The Stranger” – Billy Joel (Though I imagined Adrien singing it a bit slower than Joel does): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnlvPoDU5LY
> 
> “Rocket Man” – Elton John: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LX7WrHCaUA
> 
> “Crocodile Rock” – Elton John: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS-YZlJLCbM
> 
> Edit 11/6- Fun fact, "Selling tofu" is a euphemism for prostitution in Mandarin. I have this headcannon where Adrien shows little acts of rebellion here and there. Nothing big. Nothing that's too obvious or would get him into trouble. But telling his father over the breakfast table that he could sell his body in China if he wanted to? Definitely. -Amateum


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I said I wouldn’t write a sequel or anything for “Sing Me A Song—You’re the Piano Man,” because it was supposed to be a one-shot. Apparently, I was wrong. 
> 
> Fair warning: I took this one even less seriously than the last one. This is basically an excuse to have the dorks sing more Billy Joel and Elton John and engage in tooth-rotting sweetness (or at least my attempt thereat). I blame the commenter Astal for this (BTW, she has some awesome ML fics of her own—go check them out!). She planted the idea of “more” in my head, I said no, I had an idea, this happened. Yeah.

Adrien checked his watch again. 9:15. He looked over at his open window expectantly. They had agreed upon tonight, because Gabriel was at a high-society function, and wouldn’t be back most likely until tomorrow. The Gorilla was with him as designated driver, _and what an evening that will be—stuck with my father for hours without access to alcohol_ , and Nathalie kindly agreeing to turn a blind eye—or rather, a deaf ear to Adrien’s room. Yes, tonight was going to be a good night.

He sat down at his piano bench. 9:17. She was running a little late now.

“Plagg, she’s not here yet. What if something happened? What if there’s been an akuma attack? What if—?”

“Relax kid,” Plagg cut him off. “She’s Ladybug. She can handle herself. She’ll be fine. And if it’s an akuma attack, we’ll know soon enough.”

Deep down, Adrien knew the small god of destruction was right. But he decided to be overdramatic about it anyway. He flopped down on the piano bench and exclaimed, “No Plagg, she’s gone forever! She’s probably been kidnapped, or killed, or seduced by that rogue, Chat Noir!” At this, Plagg rolled his eyes. “My heart is in pieces, and it shall never be mended!”

“Jeez kid, where on earth did you get this melodrama from?” Asked Plagg.

Adrien stopped his theatrics for a moment, sat up, looked Plagg dead in the eye, and said in a pointed tone, “I don’t know, Plagg, where do _you_ think I get it from?”

“I don’t know either, but I’m sure your heart will mend somehow,” Plagg replied in a dry tone.

“No, she’s gone forever, and I must express this nigh-unbearable grief through song!” A slow, sad melody issued from the piano.  After a few moments, Plagg settled down on the instrument, and Adrien began to sing:

“Don’t wish it away…Don’t look at it, like it’s forever…Between you and me, I can honestly say, that things can only get better.” His voice and the melody from the piano flowed out from his room, into the Parisian evening, carrying itself to a young woman in a red suit with black spots on a nearby roof. The music was like a homing beacon, guiding the hero to safety.

As Adrien finally got to the chorus of the song, “And I guess that’s why they call it the blues…” Ladybug swung through the window. He grinned up at her, not missing a beat. “Time on my hands, could be time spent with you…” Ladybug dropped her transformation, and Marinette walked over to the piano as Tikki and Plagg zipped off to give the pair of teens some space.

“Laughing like children, living like lovers…Rolling like thunder, under the covers…” here, Adrien wiggled his eyebrows at Marinette and grinned in what he thought was a suggestive manner. Marinette only rolled her eyes and shook her head, as Adrien finished the last line of the chorus in a dejected tone.

“And I guess _that’s_ why they call it the blues.” He finished on a melancholy chord, and tried to look as pitiful as possible at his girlfriend. She only chuckled, booped him on the nose (instantly restoring his blinding grin), and said, “Ah _minou_ , not so fast. We’ve only been dating a few weeks.”

“Of course, of course. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” The two smiled at each other like the lovesick saps they were, when Plagg and Tikki returned. Plagg took in the scene in under a second, and rudely interrupted.

“Y’know, if you two keep it up, I will be able to literally eat the air, because of how cheesy the atmosphere has become.”

“And you wonder where I get it from,” replied Adrien sarcastically.

“Where you get what from?” asked Marinette innocently. Before Adrien could cut him off, Plagg replied.

“His tendency to exaggerate. That’s how you two balance each other out. He’s the drama queen and you’re the level-headed one who keeps him sane! Why, just ‘cause you were two minutes late this evening, he was all sorts of worried! He was afraid you were attacked or dead or…or…sorry, what was the third option, Adrien? I can’t really remember,” he said to his Chosen with an overly-innocent look.

“Huh. I can’t remember either,” Adrien replied, giving his kwami a murderous glare.

“Oh that’s right!” Plagg turned toward Marinette, who had watched the exchange with a bemused look on her face. “He was afraid that you’d been seduced away from him by Chat Noir!”

“Alas, you have discovered my secret!” said Marinette, throwing her hand over her eyes with drama worthy of a soap opera. “I’m sorry, Adrien, but I must confess—my heart belongs to another!” Adrien’s eyes went wide. “I just couldn’t help myself—it was his roguish good looks, his charm, and honestly? That suit!” She fanned herself as Adrien blushed. “I mean, Chat’s suit leaves practically _nothing_ to the imagination!   What’s a girl to do? After all, he _is_ the handsomest hero in Paris!” Playing along, Adrien clutched at his heart.

“But, Marinette—my rose, my light—how could you do such a thing to me? You know I have eyes only for you!”

Plagg just looked back and forth between the two, an exasperated look on his face.

“I changed my mind. You two are perfect for each other. In fact, I _camember-_ it any longer. I’m off for more cheese.” He turned and phased back through Adrien’s closed door, as the other three facepalmed, rolled her eyes, and snorted, respectively.

“They’re only funny when I say them,” said Adrien.

“Not even then,” replied Marinette. Adrien squawked mildly in protest.

“Well I think your puns are funny, Adrien!” exclaimed Tikki.

“You traitor!” exclaimed Marinette, offended for all of a half second. But she couldn’t keep a straight face, and all three lapsed into fits of giggles.

 

\---

 

Eventually, Adrien ended up sitting back at his piano, Marinette sitting next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. The Kwamis had flitted off, once again leaving the two teenagers alone. Adrien quietly improvised a melody, and Marinette simply sat with her love, steeping in the gentle melody. After a moment or two of companionable silence, she spoke.

“You know, despite what I thought before, maybe it _was_ a good thing that we found out about each other.” Adrien “hmm’ed” in agreement, and she continued. “I mean, sure, it may be a little more dangerous now that we know each other’s identities, but we can also gain strength from it.”

“Can?” Adrien stopped playing, and looked at the girl next to him. “We already have. These past few akuma have been no sweat for us. We’ve been in better sync with each other than ever—and we did just fine _before!_ ”

“Yeah, we _are_ doing better now. I think it’s because I trust you now—” Adrien cocked his head at this, “not that I didn’t before! No, I mean, now I know who you are behind the mask, I trust you even more—more completely than I even thought I could.” In reply, Adrien’s eyes lit up. He began to play a medium tempo rock beat on his piano, and grinning, began to sing.

“Some love is just a lie of the heart…the cold remains of what began with a passionate start…but that won’t happen to us,” he winked at Marinette, “Cause it’s always been a matter of trust!” Marinette laughed, leaned against Adrien again, and let her boyfriend serenade her.

 

\---

 

“Are they still in there…y’know…?” Plagg whispered to his fellow Kwami. Tikki phased through the door, and then reappeared a second later.

“Yep, they’re still there. He’s singing to her. She’s completely enthralled. The two of them are absolutely adorable!”

“ _Blech_ ,” replied Plagg. “I hate it when this happens. It’s totally gross!” Tikki rounded on him.

“Oh please. Until a few weeks ago, the only thing you ever talked about was how clueless those two were and that they needed to get together! Make up your mind!” she huffed, exasperated.

“Yes, well, that doesn’t make them any less sickeningly sweet,” said Plagg. Tikki simply gave a long-suffering (five-thousand-year-suffering, to be precise) sigh. _Only two thousand more years until the ultimate Cataclysm. I can put up with him for that long. I know I can. Only two thousand more years to go…_

“Oh for heaven’s sake. How many times over the past five millennia have we had this conversation?” she asked.

“Enough to know that I’m right.”

“ _How does that even make any sense?!”_

 _“How do_ you _even make any sense?!”_

 _“ArrrRRRGH!”_ the red Kwami made to strangle the black one.

“Cookie!” Plagg pointed to a random spot behind the furious Kwami, who naturally turned to look.

“Where—Wait a minute _you little shit!_ ”

“Five thousand years and that trick still works!” sang Plagg as he shot away. Tikki gave another irritated (but also slightly fond) huff, and zipped off after him.

 

\---

 

“Do you think we should tell anyone else?”

“Maybe Alya and Nino. And our parents, obviously.”

Adrien’s face darkened. “Please. I doubt my father cares much what I do with my ‘copious’ amounts of spare time. And if he did know, I’m sure he’d book my schedule up even tighter than it is.” At this, Marinette began rubbing his back with one hand. She leaned up and gently kissed his cheek.

“Listen to me. We have each other, at least.”

“For now,” said Adrien with a small smile, “that’s enough for me.” He began to play a soft tune, melody rising and falling gently as rolling hills. Soon, he was singing again.

“When I'm deep inside of me…Don't be too concerned…I won't ask for nothin', while I'm gone…But when I want sincerity…Tell me where else can I turn…'Cause you're the one that I depend upon…

Hon-esty…is such a lonely word…everyone is so untrue. Hon-esty…is hardly ever heard…and mostly what I need from you.” Adrien looked at Marinette, and tagged the last part of the chorus, altering the lyrics slightly. “Hon-esty…is hardly ever heard…and most-ly what I get…from you.”

As the final chords rang out from the piano, Marinette gently turned Adrien’s head towards her own, and began to close the short gap between them. She felt Adrien’s arms encircle her, but just before their lips could meet, from the other side of the room there came a loud “ _BLECH!_ ” The two teens whipped around to see Plagg with a sour look on his face, clearly disgruntled by the PDA before him, and Tikki glaring daggers at him. Three voices were united: “ _PLAGG!”_

 

_Fin (encore une fois)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. That was a thing that happened. What have I learned from this experience? 
> 
> 1) Amateum and I should not be allowed in the same room irl to edit/revise fic, because we get too distracted by Ranger’s Apprentice. And memes. And fudge.
> 
> 2) Tikki is kinda tough for me to write. She’s always like “Encouragement and voice of reason to Marinette!”, whereas Plagg is just like “Give me cheese you meme-loving fuck.” Guess which one I relate to more. 
> 
> 3) Never give up on your one-shots. Who knows when inspiration will strike. 
> 
> 4) Sassy little shit!Plagg is waaay too much fun to write.
> 
> 5) TikkiSwears2k16 and PlaggPuns2k16. 
> 
> 6) Amateum is still the best editor. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, here are the songs mentioned in the second chapter:
> 
> "I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues" - Elton John: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXTa8taaNvI
> 
> "A Matter of Trust" - Billy Joel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKhE-2tOaE0
> 
> "Honesty" - Billy Joel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R3GtAnO66o
> 
>  
> 
> As always, hope you enjoyed it!


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